The Future of Michigan Politics: Proposed Redistricting Maps from the Independent Commission

The Detroit Free Press, in an article by Clara Hendrickson and Todd Spangler, "Michigan's draft redistricting maps approved, will be taken to the public next", 10/12/21, reports on proposed maps by the new Independent Redistricting Commission establishing Congressional and State House and Senate districts based on the 2020 census.

It's complicated but important to the state's political future. So far, the commission is offering three sets of maps for public comment later this month to untangle "the gerrymandered boundaries put in place by a Republican state legislature and governor a decade ago, when new lines were drawn after the last Census."

The proposed maps, compared to the current districting maps, are less lopsided in favoring Republicans overall . They give a slight edge to Democrats in Congressional races and a slight edge to Republicans in state house and senate races. It will shake-up the status quo in many areas of the state, including in the Ann Arbor area which is heavily Democratic and in heavily Republican Southwest Michigan. 

The methods used in drawing the maps are in part based on voting patterns over the last ten years, but this is not the only consideration.

"Some of the proposed maps drawn by the commission would skew Republican, according to the commission's measures. But no plan matches the GOP advantage for the current districts drawn by Republicans in 2011, according to those measures.  

 

"The commission has been repeatedly urged to attempt to get its fairness scores as close to zero partisan bias as possible. 

"The commission's general counsel has told the group that it is not required to draw maps that would score zero on measures of partisan fairness. 'A lot of the very passionate public comment was for everything to be equal. That is not what your constitutional language is,' Julianne Pastula, the commission's general counsel, said."

 

Public hearing schedule

The commission will hold five public hearings across the state to solicit input on its maps. The hearings will be held from 1-3:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. with the commission conducting its business until 2:30 p.m. before kicking off the hearing. The public hearings will take place on the following dates:

• Weds., Oct. 20: Detroit, TCF Center
• Thurs., Oct. 21: Lansing, Lansing Center
• Fri., Oct. 22: Grand Rapids, location to be determined
• Mon., Oct. 25: Gaylord, Treetops Resort
• Tues., Oct. 26: Flint, Dort Financial Center

Members of the public can also submit written public comments and draft maps via www.michigan-mapping.org or comment on the commission's draft maps available at www.michigan.gov/micrc. 

The final maps of Congressional and State House and Senate Districts will be issued by December 30, 2021.